Improved steering apparatus



Annrscrn. sMrr'iIf, or

mmol/ED 'STEERING yAesalariroisf" Y Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,53 ND, dated February 1'7, 1863.

lo all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON SMITH, in the town of l-errysburg, county ot'Wood, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and improved. construction of war-vessels, by which means the vessel can be turned around on its center without changing its location in the water; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and references thereof, in which- Figure l shows a longitudinal elevation of,

the vessel; Fig. 2, a top view, the deck being removed; Fig-3, a sectional elevation showing theheight of the pipes from the bottom, drawnthrough .fr of Fig. 2.j

The nat-ure of the invention consists in an arrangement of pipes in a war-vessel in such manner that the water .in which the vessel ilcats maybe used bythe force of the steamen gine propelling the vessel to turn the vessel around, as on a pivot, without changing the location ofthe vessel, and to make certain lateral movements. It is often a very awkward arid slow operation to brin g a large vessel into her birth in a doch, requiring a half hour or threeltburths of an hour to accomplish it. It is still more awkward for a vi ssel ot' war in action to change lier position from that ot' bows on to that of broadside, or that of broadside to that of stern, and vice versa, yet with the presentl devices, hereinafter explained, all

these changes can be effected with ease and colei-ity.

Although the devices here lused may with equal facility be applied. to any vessehit is 'supposed to be specially adapted to vesselsot' war in action, and the arrangements have beenmade for such vessels especially.

Let A A represent the ship of war; C (l, a large metallic pipe extending from end to end ofthe ship horizontally, and branching near each-end into'two arms, each opening exter-4 nally into the water outside of the vessel, which water enters from the four open mouths of the four brances cc c" om', and ilows freely through the pipes, but each arm is supi Cplied with suitable valve to open and close at the will of the engineer, and all athis control,

. -which valves, forming no part ofthe invention,

lfentreeine;@ i-0111i are not represented'in the drawings, except by stopcocks, merely to show what is nearly or about their position.

D is a 'coupling-piece tobe used to form the connection between the forcingpumps of the engine and the four discharge-openings c c GII! Gl/l/I a is a valve for supplying the water-chamber in the hold,.for the purpose of 'charging the water-pumps. It communicates between the couplin gpiece D and the Water outside by a channel. (Not seen in the drawings.)

b b b bf are valves for controlling the water in the branch pipes G. They may be' stop cocks or any form of valve.

It is, proper to say of the devices herein claimed that they have nothing to do with propelling the` boa-t or vessel, but are only an ing her ont of her location.

Operation: It will be perceived upon examination of Fig. 2- that it the valves b and b" be closed and valves b and 11 be open, as indicated in the figure, and the pumps of the engine (connected with D, but not here represented in the drawings) be put into action, and water from outside be forced into the pipe C C, a strong current will be forced out against the water at the mouths ot' pipes c and 0", by

the reaction, will be turned around on its center, the endsincving in ai direction opposite to that .in which the water discharged,according to the wellknown principles of action and' reaction,77 which are equal and contrary. lli' we open valve b or b', it is evident that this ond ot' the vessel will be turned around on a and the opposite end of the vessel, audit' the water be dischargrnl from c" and c" at the same time the vessel will move sidewise, butin the opposite direction to that ot' the currents of dis-charge.

l do not claim pipes runnin g through a vossel with branches for steering or propelling the. vessel; but l l What l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, isi L 'lhe combination ot' a main pipe with sranches c c c c, branching at right angles extra means of turning around without mov- 'which means` the two ends [of the vessel, by

center lying somewhere between the middle v with the keel, for the purpose only of turning a, vessel on a center or moving it sidewise, as

herein described.

2. The arrangement of pipe C G in the hold of the vessel, in combination with the branch Witnesses: pipes o c" 0"' 0", the axis of the discharging EDM. F. BROWN, portion of said pipes being nearly ai', a right S.D. GALE.

angie with the keel, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.-

ADDISON SMITH. 

